Q.) Why did you start playing tennis, and was there a specific player that inspired you to play the sport?
A.) I initially started playing tennis when I was three-years-old as part of a fun ball skills group at my local club Pershore Tennis centre, this was a weekly session. I continued to do this and learn the basics of tennis until I was about eight-years-old. At the same time I started to improve and my love for tennis began. That year in 2012 Andy Murray won the Olympics beating Roger Federer in the final, these two players were the ones that inspired me the most at the start. The following year Andy Murray won Wimbledon in 2013 beating Novak Djokovic, that was the moment that I knew I wanted to follow the dream of becoming a tennis pro in the future, a dream and aspiration I still have today.
Q.) Tell us about where you currently are with your career…where you train, what level you play at and what type of game-style you have?
A.) Right now in my tennis career I am competing at Junior u16 & u18 regional tour level in the UK. I had a set-back in 2018 when I became ill with HSP disease (Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a disease involving inflammation of small blood vessels. The inflammation causes blood vessels in the skin, intestines, kidneys, and joints to start leaking. I had just started playing Tennis Europe u14 and sadly this put a stop to that pathway at the time.
I was out from competion for six months and it took me another year to recover fully physically, in that time period I also grew a lot which made it very difficult to find any consistency in my results, I am still growing now and at the moment I am 6ft 5 inches tall. My main goal was to bring my training level to the match court and improve my UK ranking. When the new LTA age group goes live I should be ranked about 110 in u16 tennis in the UK. I am pleased to recover to this level.
I currently train at Pershore tennis centre in Worcestershire with my individual coach Jazzamay and in a squad there, plus train at Edgbaston Priory Tennis club in Birmingham as part of their High Performance programme two days a week. Post my GCSES (which have now been cancelled due to Covid19), I plan to train full-time, still combining both centres. My game style that I am developing is to become an big server and a net rusher.
Q.) There is no tennis being played because of Coronavirus, what are you working on at home to develop your game? Could this break end up being a positive, in tems that you are training parts of your game you wouldn’t usually focus on?
A.) So, Covid19 is a set-back and its a big shame that I can’t get on court to train. Everyone’s health is the most important thing right now, I have decided to use my time at home to my advantage and focus heavily on my strength & conditioning and physicality. This is something I need to improve to aid my future results and overall development, now I have the time that I need to do that. Monday-Friday I am training at home three times per day. In the mornings I am doing a double S&C session, I start with an online fitness workout to warm up then follow that with some circuit training in the garden. My sessions can be followed on my Instagram account @sartennis04.
In the afternoons I am focusing on a programme set by our coaches at Edgbaston Priory, doing an S&C session – covering aspects like upper/lower body strength and acceleration/deceleration sessions. I am also doing fun daily skills challenges plus daily tennis specific footwork drills, this is another aspect of my game that needs to improve (especially with my height). So I can make this time into a positive to be stronger for when I get back on to court and into competiton.
I have also been working with a nutritionist called Edin Sehovic since July 2018 who I met when training after my illness at Barcelona tennis academy, I have learnt so much from him to aid my physical development, all with the long term goal of when I grow into my body fully, I will be ready to compete at the highest level that is possible. I have been in regular contact with Edin (he is based in Canada) during this time to make sure I utilise this period in terms of nutrition also.
Q.) The length of delay in tennis is unknown, but what do you want to achieve within the next 18 months in your tennis career?
A.) I still have over two-and-a-half years of junior tennis left in the UK. My goal in that time is to be competing regularly on a National level in the UK as well as targeting Junior ITFs and competing on the British tour, all with a goal of developing my game for men’s professional tennis in the long term.
Before my illness I had good experiences training in Mallorca at Vilas tennis academy and since have attended Barcelona tennis academy in Spain for training camps. All of these experiences I believe have helped my mindset and realisation of how hard I have to work to fulfill my ambitions in the next 18 months of my junior career. Opportunity will also play a big part in this and I hope my hard work will open some doors to find support to make this sustainable and believable. I already have some good support via my social media, for clothing and equipment, I thank my current sponsors and private supporters for that.
Q.) Are you planning on joining a tennis academy, or are you confident you can be successful with your current setup?
I would love to join a tennis academy full-time abroad but that is not financially possible, so I have to plan my training programme within the means I have available. I am currently planning my programme after my GCSEs, to train more at Edgbaston Priory and access their full-time programme as much as I can then continue training with my individual coach Jazzamay at Pershore. Around that I will look to organise hits to increase my training hours and continue fitness, based on what I have been doing during this stay at home period and when at Edgbaston. This time at home has shown I can do the required S&C work myself if I have to. I believe that this set up and the coaches and players that I will be training with, will help me achieve my goals within the next 18 months.
Q.) The mens game is in a great place right now, with many different styles of player on tour, are there any players you really study and learn from?
A.) I would definitely say I learn from many players, currently I am inspired by Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev & Felix Auger-Aliassime plus the obvious greats who are still playing. Since I am trying to transform my game style into a big server and net rusher I have been watching a lot of Kevin Anderson because he has a big serve but then also gets to the net when possible.
I also changed to a single-handed backhand after my illness In July 2018. This is something I had wanted to do since I was around 10-years-old because of Roger Federer, I have always been a student of the game and watched videos of pro tennis to find anything I can use to have develop my own game and technique. Considering how short a time I have played with a one-handed backhand , it is coming on nicely and has been holding up well in my matches. There is lots of work still to be done and my philosophy has always been to work as hard as I possibly can.
Q.) Finally, what is the ‘dream achievement’ for yourself in tennis?
A.) My dream since 2013 has always been to be a professional tennis player and that is even more so now. I believe with the right opportunity and support I have it in me to make these aspirations come true, I am not going to say where I could get to in the professional game but I am determined to find a way to train and develop my game to ‘be the best that I can be’. With that philosophy who knows where I could get to, I am 100% going to give it a go.
One thing I do know that I am obsessed with the wonderful sport that is tennis and if the future doesn’t mean as a player, I am confident I will spend my life working in the tennis industry.
This is partly why I do this blog, to give young, talented, hard-working players a voice and chance a to tell British Tennis fans about themselves. A fantastic, interesting interview with Sam. Make sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram, wishing him the very best for 2020.
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